Letter: Guns and Gun Control 101

Before gun control legislation is proposed, you and your legislators should have some knowledge of the entities you plan to legislate against. Here are just a few facts and thoughts you should consider:

∎ There is no difference between the recently designated “assault rifles” and average semi-automatic hunting rifles, other than the military appearances.

∎ A semi-automatic rifle requires a user to find the target, aim and pull the trigger once for each bullet fired.

∎ A fully automatic rifle (historically defined as an assault rifle) will rapid fire as fast as the mechanism will function by pulling and holding back the trigger. Such weapons have been illegal to own in the U.S. since the days of Al Capone and the tommy gun.

∎ State hunting regulations limit magazines to no more than five rounds in the gun at one time, four in the magazine and one in the rifle chamber.

∎ Semi-automatic pistols were not included in the “assault rifle ban,” yet are just as lethal. The same goes for semi-automatic shotguns, which is what law enforcement uses to maximize close-quarters combat efficiency.

∎ If the federal ban on assault rifles that expired is reinstated, it would not allow for confiscation of the 3 million to 4 million “assault rifles” already out there. It would just ban future manufacture and make legislators feel good.

∎ According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and other federal agencies, the existence of an assault rifle ban had no impact on the incidence of mass murders during the 10 years it was instituted.

∎ If the Second Amendment was abolished and legislation passed to ban and confiscate all semi-automatic firearms, there would not be enough room in our prisons for the many millions of previously lawful gun owners who would then become criminals because they refused to give up their firearms

∎ The National Rifle Association is not an entity of and by itself, but represents millions of American gun owners, both Democrats and Republicans, who individually fund the organization to collectively protect their rights to own firearms.

To the Editor: Like Ted Andress (“Guns and Gun Control 101,” Jan. 5 Forum), I’m bothered when anyone confuses a semi-automatic firearm (one trigger pull fires each bullet) with automatic ones (one trigger pull empties an entire clip in seconds). On that point we need to be clear. However, let’s also be clear when other facts get twisted beyond the …